OT: Franchise Hockey Manager

[Bonzai12]

We are finally getting close to a release date on this thing. The next big hockey sim game is soon coming out (Franchise Hockey Manager) from OOTP, who run the best baseball sim out there.

Here's details......




And then we thought of a great way to end 2012 with a bang: the first feature list for Franchise Hockey Manager, our highly-anticipated sim that's on track for release in early 2013. This isn't complete, but it's a top-level view that will whet your appetite for more information in the coming weeks.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to stay up to date on all the latest FHM news.

Windows and Mac support
Two game modes: Modern and Historical
2012-13 game start with these playable leagues: NHL, AHL, ECHL, QMJHL, WHL, OHL, KHL, DEL, Elitserien and EIHL
Over 1,000 teams, comprising nearly 100 leagues, that are non-playable but are stocked with real players
Start any NHL season from 1947-48 through today, with players appearing on their actual teams or in a draft
Real stats, finances, and rules
Detailed player model with over 30 skills in 5 main categories
Trades, player transfers, RFA/UFA signings, and more
Set lines and tactics and make changes on the fly during games that feature a huge, editable play-by-play database
News engine featuring a database packed with thousands of articles
Stat keeping, including CORSI and Fenwick
Almost everything is editable, from logos and colors to data to league rules and more

Click to read more...

 

[Bonzai12]

Here's the facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/FranchiseHockeyManager

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Saw it in the Fantasy forum months back. Still waiting to see exactly how it can be used as a multi-GM/Commish league to determine if I'm in or not. I'd like to restart an old league I participated in and buy a domain, set up the game and have everyone group-share the workload for making the league successful.

Never works when a handful of people have to do everything.

 

[Bonzai12]

Saw it in the Fantasy forum months back. Still waiting to see exactly how it can be used as a multi-GM/Commish league to determine if I'm in or not. I'd like to restart an old league I participated in and buy a domain, set up the game and have everyone group-share the workload for making the league successful.

Never works when a handful of people have to do everything.

It's going to be bad news for you then. Usually the commish does everything. Sets up the websites, runs the sims, etc...It's like a 2-4 hour/week part time job. As long as you don't have crazy owners it's not too much of a pain in the butt though.

It is definitely multi GM. Everyone updates their rosters, puts in their FA/waiver/trades/etc, and then every GM creates an export file and sends it to an FTP server. The commish picks up the file, executes it into the game, and then runs the game for 7 days and sends out the updated .zip file of the league. Pretty straight forward. Usually takes 15-45 min to process a simulation, and it's usually done 3 times a week. For the commish, it's a pain in the butt. For an owner, it's easy as pie. And trust me, there will be so many rookie commish's out there trying to put out leagues that it might be better to sit on the sidelines for a while and just play as an owner honestly (besides the fact that nobody knows how this is all going to pan out. OOTP is pretty predictable and patches now just have new rosters and a few updates, but I anticipate there will be a HUGE number of initial leagues and many many re-starts after 3-4 seasons as owners burn out, people understand the settings more, commishes decide they don't want to do the work necessary, etc. etc...)... I initially wanted to commish myself, but without proper knowledge of the game, I'm starting to think twice. If I commish something, I want a good product with great settings that avert owner dissension and complaining, because thats what takes up most of a commish's stress and time. It's not possible to do that without knowing what the flaws are in the initial release until I play a few seasons.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

That stuff is expected. But I don't like the exporting files part if that's how it'll work. The ideal solution would be for it to work more like an application and just merge the results into the shared database.

Sigh... step in the right direction I guess.

GM logs into their account, we have a shared forum to discuss on... GM does all their stuff, database updates. Commish runs the sims and sims populate into the database and updates GM portal information.

Why does no one want to support that entirely?

 

[Bonzai12]

It is fairly easy and I think it's along the lines of what you expect.

GM's have the program already installed on their computer. They hit a button that says "Update League Files". The program automatically runs a query that includes a FTP type transaction that brings all the files into the program. The GM then is able to make changes to his roster - making offers to FA's, waiving/releasing guys, adjusting lineups, etc...He then hits the export button when he's finished. The game automatically FTP's a small file to the commish's website.

The commish then runs a sim - he imports all the exports that are on the server (sent there by the GM's), he processes any trades and then runs the game 7 days. He creates a league file and sends the league file to the server. All of this is automated.

Once league file is updated, GM's go in and update their league file, make adjustments again, etc. etc....

Usually on the commish's website he has a forum set up (similiar to HFBoards) where he posts rules, people talk about the league, post trade blocks, new stories, etc..

Where the biggest loads of work come from are the owners pissing about the rules, how good/bad their players are, how a trade could go through without being vetoed, complaints about how their franchise doesn't have enough money, the GM can't download/upload files, etc etc......When you have a huge number of owners (some leagues have up to or even over 30), you're bound to get a few guys who barely know where the power button is on the MAC or they just like to stir up drama. You'll also have some guys that have no clue how to run a franchise and some guys that spend 24 hours looking at theirs. The easy prey for trades get obvious quickly.

Anyways, commishing is a lot to deal with. But I think the game runs like how you expect.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

So I bought this game and am messing around... first trade I tried.

"You have just been informed by Dale Tallon that he accepts your trade proposal. He said: "This is barely fair, so let's trade now before I reconsider.""

Hunny, Kobasew and Sullivan (As in, the AHLer) for Kulikov.

I've so got this GM thing down pat.

Hah.

 

[S E P H]

How good is the game compared to EHM? I downloaded it, but it said that I had to buy it to play the demo, LOL.

 

[Grackle Party]

I have it (beta), and to be expected is super buggy in its current state but still fun. I have high hopes for the final release.

 

[CB Joe]

So I bought this game and am messing around... first trade I tried.

"You have just been informed by Dale Tallon that he accepts your trade proposal. He said: "This is barely fair, so let's trade now before I reconsider.""

Hunny, Kobasew and Sullivan (As in, the AHLer) for Kulikov.

I've so got this GM thing down pat.

Hah.

That's disappointing if trading is that easy.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

That's disappointing if trading is that easy.

It's not entirely that way, my scouts said Jones for Hanzal and Jones for Sutter was fair but their teams shut me down even after I added Gaunce.

But, I got Ryan for Mitchell and Malone, who was holding out cause I wouldn't play him in the NHL.

It's still in beta until September, but coming along nicely. The simming is a pain in the ass, I gave all my scouts jobs and everyday they report on their players so I can't sim more than a day at a time. Sacco can't be fired right now and Pracey isn't even our best scout.

I did lose to St.Louis first game of the season 4-2 even though I signed Lidstrom and has Kulikov + Ryan on the team, only losing the guys above. So it's not unrealistic there!

Overall I'm having fun waiting until I can get a server and turn it into an online league.

Editing lines sucks btw. Wayyyyy too slow.

 

[Bonzai12]

I'm going to download this next week to check it out. I already have a server if you guys want to create a league.

By the way, don't put too much stock into dealing with the AI. The AI will let you absolutely trounce them, similar to EA NHL games. The bread and butter of these games are onlines leagues with 30 other real life managers that for the most part know what they are doing - although there's always a couple real life managers out there that will get taken in every deal (happens in every online league).

You shouldn't have to stop a sim every day by the way. There's some settings you can change to alter that. If it's anything like OOTP baseball (which the gui is set up the EXACT same way), you should be able to sim by any time period you choose. In manager/GM options there should be things you can check/un-check that stop sims.

 

[ResilientBeast]

Can't wait for the Mac beta version, I'll be undoing all the stupid moves made by the oilers and see how long the dynasty could have gone for.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

If you have a server and are capable of running it right and want to make a league with me, let me know. I've got a lot plans in store and want to make a NHL and AHL level league and set up some forums, etc. The whole works. I've ran leagues in the past and know what needs to be done to make it work.

For now online won't work until Sept, but a draft could be had over the summer.

Also, the beta won't let me sim past any gm messages, so I'm screwed in that regard.

 

[Bonzai12]

For now online won't work until Sept, but a draft could be had over the summer.

I'll start working on it, but I am far more interested in a historical recalc that a modern day/fictional league,

 

[Bonzai12]

Have any of you guys been playing this?

The initial release was pretty much a fail - a game that was very hurried to market with too many bugs and clearly not enough QA.

I know they've released a bunch of patches since. I gave up on FHM when I ran the initial release and it bombed out on me several times. I was just curious if anyone has attempted to play since the patches went out? Is it playable that I could start a league?

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

Have any of you guys been playing this?

The initial release was pretty much a fail - a game that was very hurried to market with too many bugs and clearly not enough QA.

I know they've released a bunch of patches since. I gave up on FHM when I ran the initial release and it bombed out on me several times. I was just curious if anyone has attempted to play since the patches went out? Is it playable that I could start a league?

Yeah I'm curious too. It was as big a disappointment to me as Simcity was, but fixable.

 

[Freudian]

You can get it in a bundle for peanuts. Most of the other games seems crap but OOTP14 is good if you have baseball perversions.

FHM seems to be slightly improved by the patches but I'm not sure it's worth playing unless you are the patient kind.

 

[jnk96]

The worst 35€ I've ever spent. Even after all the patches it isn't playable. Way too much stuff to do instead of keeping it simple but working. Definitely nothing for an online league (stick to the EHM here) yet (?) and I don't even want to play it by myself. I was super excited and now I'm super disappointed. Horrible game...

 

[Charlatan]

The worst 35€ I've ever spent. Even after all the patches it isn't playable. Way too much stuff to do instead of keeping it simple but working. Definitely nothing for an online league (stick to the EHM here) yet (?) and I don't even want to play it by myself. I was super excited and now I'm super disappointed. Horrible game...

Yeah I pretty much agree with that. Feel like I was sold a lie with the game with the promise of updates but they never did fix fundamental flaws. The HCI is hideous and user interaction, particularly on a mac dire. Had so much potential but never did deliver.

 

[Bonzai12]

I have a feeling it will be good - OOTP was meh ok for a while and now it's pretty dang good. It's just going to take them a few years. The problem is that they really overpromised on the thing and built up excitement too soon. They took way too much user input to the game - which in turn gave users the idea the thing was going to be at an advanced/developed stage. They should have just released it without all the fanfare and up front promotion.

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

I have a feeling it will be good - OOTP was meh ok for a while and now it's pretty dang good. It's just going to take them a few years. The problem is that they really overpromised on the thing and built up excitement too soon. They took way too much user input to the game - which in turn gave users the idea the thing was going to be at an advanced/developed stage. They should have just released it without all the fanfare and up front promotion.

It's just not worth the money. It's unlikely i'll buy a later version. If they manage to get this one up and running properly like they promised, then MAYBE.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Yeah, that game is a mess. Still isn't even supporting online play like they've promised for over a year.